Chapter of a Bloodstained Knight
by Asyl Faraday
Summary: Haruki Genos, a blazer possessing a unique fighting style, enrolls in Hagun Academy hoping to fight against the best. Akari Shirozu, a princess hoping to fight at her best without using her status as a shield. When these two blazers meet, the next chapter of their stories' begins. Slight gore and cursing. Full OC story. I don't own Chivalry of a Failed Knight.
1. Chapter 1-The Accident

It's an early Spring morning and the cherry blossoms have begun to open. It's quiet as the students haven't arrived yet for the first day of school. It's the perfect time for a quick run around campus. A boy with jet-black hair and crimson eyes circles the main building and suddenly stops when he reaches the front of his dormitory. He can't believe he is finally here.

Ever since he can remember, he has dreamed of attending Hagun Academy, one of the top schools in the country for people "like him." Known as "Blazers," the young men and women who attend this school possess magical abilities and wield them in combat. Smiling to himself, the boy takes a quick look around to make sure no one is watching and slowly lifts his left hand, biting down hard on it. Immediately, blood blooms from the wound and begins to shape itself into the form of a short crimson dagger. Taking a few quick swipes of his blade, he imagines himself fighting against some of the strongest Blazers in the world. Satisfied, he lowers his hand, flicks his wrist and the dagger reverts back into blood, flowing back into the wound, completely healing his hand and closing the wound.

Deciding that an extra lap wouldn't hurt, he starts running his fifth lap around the campus before he heads back to his dorm.

* * *

Staring lazily out of the window of her car, a girl with blue hair and yellow eyes was being driven to the school. She is Akari Shirozu, the crown princess of the Azure dragon kingdom. She had hoped to earn her way into the school due to her own merits, without having to use her family's influence or her title but that wasn't the case. When the school got wind of the news that a "princess" was planning to attend the academy, she was instantly enrolled.

Her car pulls up to the front of the school. The driver steps out of the car and opens her door. "We're here, young miss." Stepping out, she gazes up at the school that would soon become her new home for the next few years. Before she walks away she turns back to her driver. "Thank you for everything. Until I return home, stay safe okay?" The driver bows and tips his hat and quickly fishes out a necklace from his pocket. The pendant dangling from the silver chain was shaped like a metal rose with a cobalt blue gem at its center. She recognized it immediately as it was the Shirozu family symbol, representing the kingdom's brilliance and strength.

The driver gently places it in Akari's hands. "A little something to remember us by and so you never forget that we are behind you every step of the way." Akari tries to stifle her tears as she clasps the necklace around her neck. "Thank you. I'll never forget your kindness."

The driver tips his hat and drives away. Akari turns and faces the school. Taking a deep breath, she puts on a brave face and confidently walks into the school.

* * *

The boy returns to his dormitory and stops at the room marked with his name, [Haruki Genos]. He turns the knob and stops before moving forward. _'I thought I locked this? How come it's open?'_

He forcefully opens the door and jumps into the room, rearing his hand back to strike the person inside. What was awaiting him, he could never have prepared for.

Instead of a generic burglar, dressed in black clothes, Haruki is met with a blue haired girl, dressed in nothing but her white underwear. Red eyes meet yellow ones and the two don't say anything for a long moment.

 _'What the f...'_ Haruki doesn't get to think any further as the girl screams, covers herself up and lifts her right hand blasting a torrent of water at his face. The force of the blow knocks Haruki out of the room and he hits the back of his head against the balcony rail, knocking him out.


	2. Chapter 2-The Difference In Strength

In the main building of the academy, a woman with long black hair and eyes looks out the window of her office. She was Kuroha Subarashi, the Director of Hagun Academy. She takes a cigarette and a lighter from her pockets. She lights the cigarette and takes a puff of smoke before addressing the student with her. "Hagun Academy is one of the top schools for Blazers in the country. Right now, hundreds of students would be entering the school filled with dreams of becoming a Magical Knight, and instead of greeting them..." She looks up and glares at Haruki who is looking at the director with indifference. "I have to deal with something as asinine as a peeping tom!"

Haruki puts his hand in his pocket and sighs. "Ma'am I can assure you, this was all just a big misunderstanding." Kuroha scoffs and sits at her desk, head in her hands. "Mr. Genos, you do understand that you went into a girl's room while she was changing. What's worse is that girl just happens to be a princess from the provinces."

The word "princess" catches Haruki's attention. He imagines the girl he saw in his room, holding a sword and clashing blades with him. _'If she's a princess, she should be able to hold herself in a fight well if she wanted to go here.'_ He smiles as his heartbeat quickens at the thought of going against a princess it sees Haruki's reaction and smirks. "I can see that look in your eyes Mr, Genos." She holds her hand out to the door and snaps her fingers. "Now then, let's see you how you act in front of a real princess."

At that moment Akari walks in through the door. Seeing her again, Haruki can't take his eyes off her; something about her just seemed so calming. He puts a hand over his heart to stem the raging flow of power surging within him as he looks at her longingly. Akari sees this and blushes while covering herself with your hands. "Are you really just going to stand there like that? Isn't there something you want to say?"

Haruki catches himself and quickly bows his head. "So sorry! It's just that, I've never met a real princess before. I'm very sorry about earlier and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me!" Akari looks down at the boy in disgust. "What's your name, little boy?" Haruki lifts his head back up to look at her. "I'm Genos. Haruki Genos. It's an honor to meet you, Miss Shirozu." Akari raises an eyebrow at him and sighs. She never expected that someone she thought was perverted could be so… knightly and respectful. "Ok then, I accept your apology." Haruki sighs in relief and stands up straight again, happy that she was so understanding of the problem. At least until she says, "You may now throw yourself upon your sword."

Haruki looks back up at Akari, hoping to see any sign of sarcasm on her face. "Th-This is a joke. Right?" Akari crosses her arms. "Of course it's not! You have committed an indecent act against a princess! I'm sure that repentance equates to your life!" When Haruki hears her words, acting high and mighty above him, he almost explodes with anger. "Oh, so you think that just because you a princess you have the right to ask anyone to end their life!? Just because you a princess doesn't mean that everyone will do your bidding!"

Haruki hears the door open behind him and sees Kuroha walking out of the room. Before she closes the door behind her she looks at Haruki with a cold stare. "Mr. Genos, you have no idea what you've unleashed upon yourself." She closes the door behind her and before Haruki can call out to her, a tentacle made of water wraps around his neck and lifts him up. It turns Haruki around so that he's facing a pissed off Akari. Her head was down casting a shadow over her eyes. Spouting from her back were four extra tentacles, writhing in the air. At the sight of the other tentacles, Haruki's eyes glowed slightly red, analyzing and visualizing the flow of magic being channeled into the tentacles.

Akari starts talking in a low threatening voice. "You know nothing about me. You don't understand what it means to hold a title. To have everyone's expectations and hopes riding on your shoulders. Don't ever talk to me about abusing my title. If you want it, you can have it, **I hate it**. I wish I never was a princess because having the title of one has caused nothing but pain and abandonment." The tentacle throws Haruki to the floor and when he looks back up, he sees Akari's eyes. Stone cold and devoid of any mercy or emotion. "You come into my room while I was changing and you call it an _'accident?'_ Who do you think you are? You undress me with your eyes; you fill your head with perverted thoughts." The tentacles sharpen to imitate blades and all point downward at Haruki. "So what's your excuse now?"

Haruki's eyes glow even brighter, staring straight into Akari's. "You said "My room," but actually, that was my room. I think you made a mistake." Akari raises an eyebrow, her gaze softening and the tentacles drooping a bit. "I think you made the mistake Mr. Genos. You walked into **my** room, not yours."

The door opens behind them and they both turn their heads and sees Kuroha sticking her head back into the room. "I almost forgot to mention, you two will be roommates. Starting today." Both Haruki and Akari look at each other in disbelief before turning back to Kuroha. "Wait, WHHHHAAAAATTTTT?!"

* * *

The three end up back at the dorm where Kuroha shows the nameplates next to the door. The first one has [Haruki Genos] on it while the one under it had [Akari Shirozu] written on it. Kuroha picks up the plates, showing them to the two, "See, your roommates it's official." Haruki raises his hand to get Kuroha's attention. "But I thought our room assignments were based on our rank as a knight? You're saying my magic ability is comparable to a princess'?"

Akari looks at Haruki, disgust filling her eyes, "Having a title doesn't mean you're strong. It just means that you're well known by the masses." Haruki looks back down at her, "Maybe, but words have power. Having a title means you're someone to be feared, especially the title of a princess." Akari crosses her arms, _'It's not like I wanted this title.'_

Kuroha clears her throat, getting the attention of the two, "Anyway Mr. Genos to answer your question, yes. The school considers your rather "unique" fighting style to be on par with Miss Shirozu here." At the mention of his fighting style, Haruki grits his teeth. He steals a glance at Akari and fortunately, she had something else on her mind. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I can't stay in the same room as this weak and perverted man!"

Haruki glares at Akari, malice filling his eyes. "Perverted I can ignore. But weak, oh now that's a low blow. You think you're so tough? Well then let's see those skills you seem to pride yourself in." Akari looks back a Haruki, raring to go. "Fine then, let's have our swords do the talking instead!" Haruki brings his face closer to hers. "My thoughts exactly!" He yells back at her. Kuroha was about to step in but lets the argument go on, pulling out her phone and turning it on.

The two teens were staring down at each other, cold waves versus blazing spirits. Akari puts her hands at her side. "Let's make it more interesting. The loser has to do one thing the winner asks of him or her and that request can't be refuted." Haruki smirks and laughs. "You're that confident that you'll win huh? Very well it's a deal, better get ready!" He extends his hand and Akari grasps it firmly, shaking it to formally agree to the terms set for them.

Kuroha turns off her phone, having recorded the whole conversation. "Alright then!" The two break off from their stare down and face her again. "The mock battle will commence at 3:00 pm sharp! Bring your best to the table, you'll need it!"

* * *

Akari stays in the girl's bathroom before the fight. She splashes water on her face to try and to calm herself down, but she keeps going back to thinking about Haruki, specifically his reaction when the director mentioned his fighting style. _'What's with him? What about his fighting style triggered that reaction out of him?'_ She picks up a towel and dries herself, 'Well, only one way to find out.' As she walks to the arena, she hears the whispers of the other students lining the halls. "Hey, isn't that Akari Shirozu? What's a princess doing here?" "Yeah, I heard she ran away to enroll here." "Is she really going to fight that first year? What's his name, Genos?" "That guy's got a lot of balls to fight the 'Azure Waves', Hope he's got a plan to fight her." "Even with a plan, going against a princess means you're already screwed." Akari hates how they think her title is what determines the result of her fights; even she didn't know what was going to happen. _'That Haruki Genos, what's so special about you?'_

* * *

Haruki stayed with Kuroha in the arena while she prepared the battlefield. While people start to fill the stands, he starts puts black fingerless gloves on both hands. He starts stretching and looks back at the Kuroha. "If it's not too much to ask ma'am, I'd prefer if you wouldn't talk about my fighting style around other people. I'd like to keep it a secret for as long as I can." Kuroha finishes the preparations for the battle and looks back at Haruki. "Secrets have a cost Mr. Genos. They have a way of being revealed when you least expect it." The two see Akari walk into the arena and Kuroha walks off. "I suggest you think about it very carefully, Mr. Genos"

Akari walks to the center of the arena where Haruki is standing and puts a hand on her hip. "You know Mr. Genos, it's not too late to back out now." Haruki shakes his head. "I know and the same goes for you too. But we agreed to this and to walk away now would be an insult to the opponent." Akari nods and motions at Kuroha. "We're ready ma'am."

Kuroha nods and uses her tablet to dim the lights, covering the arena in a green glow. "The objective of a mock battle is to drain the opponent's energy. Devices are to be summoned in phantom form only. The battle ends when one person either faints or concedes. Now call upon your devices!"

Haruki holds his left hand out. "Manifest, my darkest desire, Lythronax!" A dark red energy spirals in the palm of his hand. He closes his fist and flicks his arm out to the side. A black curved blade with glowing crimson teeth marks and a buzz-saw shaped guard appeared in his hand. Haruki holds it out in front of him with his right hand open behind it.

Akari holds out both hands in front of her. "Become my servant, Nereus!" Water bursts from the floor, flowing into a sphere of water in between her hands. She claps her hands together and spreads them to reveal a cobalt blue two-handed sword with at trident shape as the guard, the middle point elongated to become the blade. She grabs it with both hands and thrusts it into the ground.

The two stare each other down, both of them shaking not out of fear, but excitement and anticipation. When the announcer calls out, "LET'S GO AHEAD!" the two brandish their swords and race towards each other to start not only the fight but their lives on the road to becoming Magical Knights.


	3. Chapter 3-An Ocean turned Red

Akari rushes at Haruki, water swirling around the blade. When he raises his sword to block the strike, he sees magic flowing within the water veil, bending itself to further sharpen the blade. He jumps away at the last second and sharpness of the water cuts not only the air but the floor in front of it in a thin line. Akari smirks at his reaction. "Smart move, dodging my attack. The water surrounding the blade can change its shape. Making Nereus sharper than any other sword." She lunges forward and starts attacking again. "Now then, let's see how you will block an attack that will cut right through your own!"

* * *

Off to the side of the arena, Kuroha is watching the fight carefully when she hears someone yell in her ear. "What the heck Mom! I can't believe you didn't invite me to watch the fight!" The director turns back to the stands and sees her daughter, Kanzaki Subarashi sitting in the front row. Her appearance was identical to her mothers with the only differences being her hair was tied up into twin tails. "Why don't you ever tell me about these things?"

"I don't have to. You already know when one going to start." Her daughter had the power of premonition. She could see things that would happen to an object or person by simply looking at them. Kanzaki smiles and looks back at the fight. "True, but I'm surprised the princess of the Azure kingdom would consent to such a fight. Oh well, I'm sure these two are going to learn something from each other," she says with a shrug.

* * *

Despite her best attempts to cut him down, Haruki was dodging every single one of Akari's attacks. No matter what kind of move she made, stabs, slashes, even feints, Haruki had a way of either evading or sending the attack off. Unknown to Akari, Haruki's glowing eyes were observing her again. Taking in the way she makes her moves and the flow of magic that went into sharpening the water. After dodging a violent downward strike from, Haruki jumps back to gain some distance between them.

Now very annoyed Akari points her sword at Haruki. "The hell's the matter with you?! I thought you were strong?! How much longer are you going to run away?!" Haruki grips his sword in both hands holds it off to the side and closes his eyes. "Miss Shirozu, fighting against you is an honor and I know my powers are nothing compared to yours. Your skill of shaping the water surrounding your sword is one of the best and most troubling magic attacks I've had to face. As such, I have to tell you something very important." He opens his eyes, revealing their bright red tint to her. "Every magic skill, no matter how strong or perfect always has a weak point! No matter how much you change and refine a magic attack, it will have that one imperfection your opponent can exploit and use against you!"

Akari quickly readies her sword. "You're smarter than you look. But the weak point of this technique is not something one can find that easily!" Haruki rears his sword behind him. "No, I've already found it." Lythronax glows blood red and Haruki jumps forward, closing the distance between them in an instant. Akari panics and lowers her sword to block, when Haruki swings his against the middle of the guard, right at the bottom of the veil. The moment the swords make contact Akari feels something reverberate within her, numbing her senses and breaking her concentration. The water veil surrounding her sword and the glow surrounding his instantly fade away and Akari is left defenseless against Haruki's power.

Akari desperately tries to create another water veil, but a burning pain rolling all over her body prevents her from focusing. She jumps away from Haruki and puts a hand over her heart, breathing heavily. "Wha-What was that attack?! Why can't I make another water veil?!" Haruki looks down at his sword. "Back then, all my opponents were Blazers that specialized in long-range magic attacks. In order for someone like me to stand against them, I had to teach myself how to see!" Haruki rushes forward and starts on the offensive, slowly forcing Akari into a corner. "There is a flow of magic within us. Every time we use our powers, we create a connection to whatever we're doing. By concentrating my own magic, I can see that connection within the magic attacks of another person. The flow of magic, the power of the attack, even the smallest weak points instantly become visible to me!"

He slashes downward, knocking Akari back. She quickly gets up, but no matter how many times Akari tries to fight back, Haruki always strikes first, keeping her on her toes. "The technique I use lets me find the weak points in the opponent's magic and when my sword makes contact, I can use my own magic to negate the magic and sever the link between the spell and user!" Knocking her back, Haruki holds his sword out in front of him, pointing it straight at Akari. "Once the link is cut, the victim can't use the same spell for about an hour! That is the technique I created, Predator Sense!"

Akari grips Nereus in both hands and raises it above her. _'If he can see through my water veil, then let's see him stop this attack!'_ She thrusts her sword into the ground and spouts of boiling water erupt around her. "Come out, Leviathan!" The water spouts join together above her, combining a giant water dragon that roars and flies toward Haruki. The audience gasps in awe at the force and size of the dragon while Haruki holds Lythronax in a two-handed stance behind him. His eyes blaze red as he sees the lines magic of the dragon converge in its mouth as a sphere of light and his sword glows dark red again. When the dragon reaches him, he jumps into its mouth and slashes at the water. In his eyes, he breaks the sphere and the lines darken as they lose their power. Akari gasps as the dragon explodes and leaves Haruki in a rain of water, completely unharmed and looking straight at her.

"The magic in that attack is the same one you used on me in the Director's office. Even then I already saw through it and using it now is a fatal error!" Haruki grips Lythronax with both hands and runs toward Akari. Upon reaching her, he jumps upward and knocks Nereus out of Akari's stunned hands and raises his sword above her. "This is the power I wield, and with it, I will achieve all of my desires!" He slashes downward cutting through the magical armor around Akari, shattering it in a rush of wind. For a moment, no one moves until Akari loses consciousness and collapses to the ground. Haruki dispels Lythronax and faces the fallen Akari before bowing. "Thank you Miss Shirozu, for showing me your strength."

Kuroha raises her hand getting everyone's attention. "That's it the fight is over! Winner, Haruki Genos!" Everyone stands up and cheers for Haruki. Among the crowd, Kanzaki takes one last look at the arena. "Well now, this year's selection matches are going to be very interesting!"

* * *

A few hours after the fight, Akari wakes up in the medical wing of the school. She sits up and flexes her arms to get their strength back when Kuroha walks in. "Ah, Miss Shirozu good to see you up again. It's been a while since I've seen a princess fight, much less lose one." Akari can't help but agree with the Director. She had forgotten the last time she had felt the sting of defeat. Even so, she had something else on her mind. "Madam Director, what's the story behind his fighting style?" Kuroha raises an eyebrow and tilts her head. "You mean Genos? I don't know what you mean?" "Don't play dumb with me! When you mentioned it to him, he grits his teeth and was overcome in pain." She remembers seeing the pain in his eyes, the anguish and pain from a wound that never seemed to heal. Kuroha just sighs and leans her head back putting a hand over her eyes. "It's none of my business if you want answers you're going to have to ask him yourself." When Akari looks down, Kuroha puts a hand over her eyes and drops a bombshell. "What I can tell you though, is that he didn't use all of his power against you."

Akari suddenly freezes up in shock. She had put everything she had into that fight. The water veil, the dragon, those weren't magic skills she would use in a regular fight. She looks at Kuroha, hoping to see something on her face that would show her that it was a lie. "That Haruki Genos actually has one more special skill that no one has ever seen before. While he did show the administration to get enrolled, to my knowledge only his family and those select administrators know about. You want my advice; wait until he shows you himself. There's a reason he wants it a secret." Akari looks down at her shaking hands. _'Haruki Genos. Who are you really? What made you hide your talents? No better question is,_ **why are you hiding them** _?'_

* * *

Later that night Akari goes back to her shared room with Haruki. She hesitates because she doesn't know what to say to him. 'Why are you getting so worked up? He's just a boy! You've apologized to other boys this is nothing new!' She grabs the doorknob but before she can turn it, she hears something cry out in pain inside the room.

Bursting into the room, she sees Haruki lying in bed clutching his head and sweating heavily. "I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I never wanted this power! It hurts so much!" He keeps apologizing and growling in pain from whatever he's dreaming about. Seeing how painful it is for him, Akari generates a small sphere of water and throws it onto his face. Haruki instantly sits up and puts a hand over his chest to calm down. After getting his breathing under control, Haruki looks up at Akari. "A-are you OK? What was that?" Looking down at his hand, Haruki's vision briefly flashes and sees it covered in blood. It starts shaking because he knows it doesn't belong to him, but he quickly shakes away the image. "That was my price for obtaining a cursed power. It's a price I hope you will never have to pay." Akari can only nod; she never realized how his past was such a burden onto him.

"Look Mr. Genos, I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I overreacted and made a small problem more of a hassle than it needed to be. I hope you can forgive me." Haruki raises an eyebrow at her. "Why are you saying that I should be the one apologizing. I was under the bias that all princesses are stuck up girls and use their title as a weapon to lord over others. You aren't like that and I'm sorry I couldn't see that in you, I hope you can forgive me." Haruki bows his head and Akari blushes at his words. She never met anyone that didn't care about her title, that didn't care whether or not she was a princess. Finally, she met someone other than family accepted her and treated her like a real person, despite her status. "Oh Haruki, thank you~."

"So~" Haruki starts, prolonging the "O" sound, "What to do with you?" Akari stops fantasizing and looks at Haruki with confusion. "Wha?" She breathes in confusion and Haruki smirks at her. "The loser has to do one thing the winner asks of him or her and that request can't be refuted!" That was the deal, right?" Akari suddenly turns white as she remembers the reason behind their duel, and waves her hands in front of him, "W-W-Wait! That was just a joke?! Yeah, we aren't really going to make the loser do-" Haruki raises an eyebrow and puts his head in his hand, "You made the rules remember. I won so you have to follow them." Akari stands up and puts her face, now red with anger, right in front of Haruki's and glares at him. "No way! The deal is off so forget about it!" Haruki tilts his head in an innocent manner. "Really? Is this how you react to treaties and things like that? How do people stand that?" Akari's face gets even redder and stands up, looming over Haruki. "You know what, fine! Ask anything from me! Make me your servant! Peasant! Idiot! I...hate you!"

Haruki looks at her before laughing in disbelief. "OK then. You want an order, here." He stands up and Akari closes her eyes, ready to her the most degrading thing of her life when. "Miss Shirozu, I order you to be my roommate and my partner." Akari opens her eyes and sees Haruki smiling at her. "I'll be honest, I don't have many friends. I know after what happened did this morning you probably think I'm some cocky pervert, but I want to show you otherwise. We're kind of stuck with each other for the rest of the year, and even though we're going to have lots of our own personal problems, I don't want our relationship to be one of them. Hopefully, we can become friends one day" Akari instantly turns bright red and faces away from him, mumbling. _"Idiot. You can't say something so profound to a girl you just met."_

Haruki is about to say something when Akari points a finger him, her blush still apparent on her face. "Let me be clear! I have no intention of becoming close to you! I made a bet and I will honor that but don't think that makes us friends. Right now, we are partners! Nothing more." Haruki smiles again and holds his hand out to her. "I want nothing more, Miss Shirozu." Before shaking his hand, Akari looks straight into Haruki's eyes. "Just so we're clear, it's Akari, not Miss Shirozu. If we're going to be partners, we should call each other by their first names. Is that OK, Haruki?" Said boy closes his hand into a fist and holds it out to her. "You got it, Akari." The two smile and she bumps her fist against his, officially starting their partnership together.


	4. Chapter 4-Blackened Reality

On the public train going to Hagun Academy, a young girl with pale blue hair held up in a ponytail and lime green eyes sits with her bag clutched to her chest. She waits impatiently for the train to stop at her new school. But the only thing that really matters to her is the one she wants to see again. _'Why did it turn out this way? She never had to leave us, she had her own dreams, but they forced her to attend this school.'_ On the other side of the train, another girl about the same age as the other, this one with gray hair that went down to the back and bright orange eyes waits with the same anticipation for the train to stop. _'You never had to go through this. I'm going to make sure you're never alone again, I promise.'_ The train stops and both girls walk off and into the gates of their new school, Hagun Academy. ' _Just you wait, I'm coming big bro/sis!'_

* * *

It's been a few weeks since the fight between Haruki and Akari. Since then, the two of them have gotten more used to each other's presence. Today Haruki was up earlier than the other students today for another one of his runs around campus. Within a week of coming to terms with their current situation, the two of them have come to gradually place more trust in each other. Not only in their fights but in their education as well, practicing and studying together whenever they can. There was still the occasional argument between the two, but they were more understanding of each other than when they first met.

As Haruki makes the finishing lap around the front of his dorm again, he raises his hand and attempts to use his powers again, until he sees a flash of blue hair behind the walls of the gate. He steps back and raises his fists in a defensive stance. "OK, who's there!? Come out now!" He lowers his hands when Akari steps out of dining with a water bottle in hand and lets out a long breath, "Hey Akari what's up!" She holds it out to Haruki, making him raise an eyebrow. "Uhh?" "Just take it already!" She yells at him. Haruki sees no way out and takes it from her and takes a swig. Akari twiddles her fingers together, unable to ask what she wants to since they met. "So, uh, I wanted to ask…" Haruki looks at her with a raised eyebrow. Akari gathers her courage and takes a deep breath before asking. "What is your cursed power and why do you have to hide it from people?" She finally askes. Haruki stops drinking as Akari continues. "Whenever you fight, it's like you're holding back against your opponent. I see you sometimes look like you're about to unleash some sort of powerful attack, but then you fall out and don't do anything." Akari looks away from him and asks quietly. "If you could, can you tell me why?" Akari looks back and sees Haruki looking away from her, a shadow downcast over his eyes. She reaches out to comfort him when he lifts his head and gives her a calm smile. "It's OK. I was actually waiting for you to ask." He hands the bottle back to Akari, puts his hands in his pockets and walks away. "Come with me and I'll tell you what you want to know." Akari is reluctant, but she slowly follows him anyway.

They walk in silence as Haruki leads her into the arena where they fought for the first time and slowly walks to the center of the field and turns around to look at Akari. "When I was a kid, I was constantly bullied by the people in my school. I was one of the weaker students in that school, my magical power was comparable to a toddler's. These guys knew about it and they used that to take advantage of me. They would beat me up, steal my money, you know the normal thing." Haruki looks down and holds his left hand up, seeing it shake slightly. "But these guys didn't stop there. They used magic on me because they knew I couldn't stop them." Akari puts a hand over her mouth as Haruki keeps talking, his hand starting to shake faster. "The beating turned into fire, ice, rocks. They threw everything they had at me and I couldn't do anything... Until finally, I was able to call my device." He violently thrust his hand out to the side making Akari gasp. "Manifest, my darkest desire, Lythronax!" The dark tendrils from before appear again, only this time, they look graceful as they come together to form the terrifying blade. Haruki holds the sword in front of him and turns it over in his hand. "This was my first step in getting back at those bullies. I tried fighting them with just this sword and though I had officially won against them, but a sword is only as strong as its wielder. They still overpowered me and now that I had a weapon, they didn't pull any punches." He pulls up his sleeve and shows Akari the something that makes her step back. Along the forearm going up the shoulder, multiple scars were laced around his arm, having faded over the years. Akari could only imagine the pain he went through when he got the wound. Haruki sees her expression and explains for her. "One of the bullies shot sharpened icicles at me and they tore me apart. I fell to the ground and was about to pass out when something happened."

Haruki takes Lythronax, holds the blade up and Akari gasps as he brings it down and cuts his wrist, making blood spill out onto the floor. Akari runs towards him to help when she sees the blood hanging in the air. She watches in shock as the blood rises back up and came together around his right arm, turning into a blood red copy the of Lythronax. He takes the new sword and smashes the handles of his swords together to make a larger double-bladed sword. Haruki looks down at the weapon resentfully as he continues his story. "My Noble Art allows me to control the blood from my wounds and the wounds of my enemies. I can also use the blood to quickly heal my wounds and give me extra stamina. You think something like this would be unstoppable, but the power was unrefined and spiraled out of control when I first used it. The blood from my wounds, the blood I spilled from my enemies, they all became my weapons. I unleashed all the hate and anger I had for those kids."

Haruki closes his eyes as he remembers the incident. He can still see their shocked faces, still hear their screams of pain and mercy the boys begged from him but never got. A single tear falls from his eye in regret. "When I came to, the bullies were lying on the ground bleeding. Granted, they were alive, but they were traumatized by me, I don't think they expected someone like me to stand up to them. The whole school got wind of what I had done and I was suspended. When I came back, everyone avoided me. I mean who wouldn't, I almost killed some of those kids." He opens his eyes and looks at the blood copy of Lythronax. "I discovered this ability during my suspension. I was training by myself and looked at my sword thinking. 'What if I had another weapon, like the ones those bullies used?' At that moment, I felt an unbelievable amount of pain come from my bandaged wound and I blacked out. When I came too, I was lying in the ground with an icicle made of blood in my hand."

He dispels the weapon and slowly walks toward Akari, hands on his side. "Since that day, I've always held back against my opponent, limiting myself to only using 'Predator Sense' when I fight. I still practice with 'Bloodlust', that's what I call the Noble art, but other than that, I don't force it." He stops right in front of Akari and looks her straight in her eyes. "Let me ask you something, now that you know my real powers. If I showed you this power on the day we met and used it against you in that fight, would you still agree to be my partner?"

Akari looks at the boy in front of her, completely stunned. The two of them were never open about each other's past. Now that Haruki made the first move, she had no idea how to react. She sees his face fall and his expression somber. "I see. I'll ask if I can switch-!" He stops talking when Akari puts her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. "Of course I would still be your partner! We were never open to each other with secrets and to be honest, I still have a few I haven't told you. But I… I" She takes his hands and looks at him with a pleading face. "I want to be with you! I don't want you to leave me! I want you to stay with me until I graduate!" She rests her head against his chest. "Please… Please don't leave me. I don't want to lose anyone else."

Haruki doesn't know what to say to her. Finally, for one in his life, he has told someone about his past and they didn't judge him or call him out for his actions, instead, she was understanding and trusted him. He feels tears well up in his eyes and he buries his face in her shoulder and starts to cry and sob, years of loneliness and built up pain come spilling out, letting go of all his problems. He loses himself in his surroundings, relishing the feeling of the weight from his past leave him and let his stand a bit taller. "Thank you… Thank you… Thank you." He repeats the same words over and over again, happy he finally found someone that could accept him for what he did.

Akari feels Haruki's body go limp and his breathing even out. _'He fell asleep, right here in the arena.'_ She looks around and doesn't see anyone around and looks back at Haruki. _'Well, let him sleep, we still have time before classes anyway.'_ She carefully picks him up and carries him back to their dorm, never more thankful for the lack of people watching her.

* * *

"So that's what the boy does. I have to say, you're really taking a big risk bringing someone like that here Mom." Kanzaki looks up at Kuroha with a questioning face. "Why is did you accept him anyway? If he can't control his powers doesn't that make him dangerous?" Kuroha takes her cigarette out if her mouth and breaths the smoke. "He's not just an ordinary boy, you of all people should be able to see that." Kanzaki thinks back to his first match and remembers what was in the future she saw for him. "Mom, you don't think he's-" Kuroha smiles at her daughter and stands up. "That's exactly what I think he is. And if that's true, we have to watch over him very carefully."


	5. Chapter 5-Little Siblings

The loud beeping of his alarm wakes Haruki up from his sleep. He reaches over and shuts off the alarm, yawning and stretching his arms when he feels something against his chest. 'What the heck is on me? I have to get ready for school. But it's so, warm…' He wraps his arms around whatever is on him and pulls it closer to him. He feels something rest against his head and opens his eyes to find Akari's face close to his. His eyes widen when he feels her stir against him and she wakes up in his arms, eyes widening to match his. "Ha-Haruki?! Wait-What?" She moves first, shoving Haruki off the bed onto the ground, wraps the blanket around her with one hand and uses her other hand to create a swirling water ball, glaring daggers at Haruki, "You! What are doing in my bed?! Pervert! You weren't going to do anything like this again!" Haruki rubs the side of his head, which hit the ground in the fall and looks at her with a confused expression. "What are you talking about?! I don't know how I got here! The last thing I remember was talking to you in the stadium! That's all I remember I swear! Don't fire that water ball please!"

Akari's angry expression softens when she remembers what Haruki said to her in the stadium. How he shared his darkest secrets and fears to her. She dissipates the water ball and looks into Haruki's eyes, staring longingly into his pools of blood red, her heart wincing when she now sees the pain and suffering he hides from the world in them, knowing what blood truly means to him. She mentally berates herself on her past behavior towards him. _'He told me everything, his past, his fears, and what have I done for him? He doesn't know anything about me because I'm too afraid to tell him. What kind of partner am I?'_ She slowly gets up from the bed, walks over and kneels down in front of Haruki. He gives her a questioning look but before he can react, she wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him softly, pulling him closer to her. _'I want to tell him how I really feel, but will he still look at me the same afterward? I don't know what to do anymore.'_

Haruki's eyes widen when Akari hug him, surprised by the gesture. He doesn't know what to do but when she tightens the hug, he slowly reaches over and put his arms around her. His gently strokes her hair when he looks over to the clock on his deck, his eyes widening at what he sees. "Akari, look at the time." He puts his hands on her shoulders and reluctantly breaks the hug, pointing at the clock when he sees her surprisingly dejected face.

Akari follows Haruki's finger and looks at the time, her eyes becoming as wide as his when she sees it. She looks back at Haruki and points over her shoulder with her thumb at the clock. "It's nine thirty." Haruki nods. "And today's Tuesday?" She continues, getting another nod from the boy. "Which means classes started over an hour ago?" He nods a third time and the two partners stare at each other without saying a word, the realization dawning on them.

Haruki breaks the silence by saying. "We're late," and the two quickly get up from the floor, brush up their clothes, and burst out of the room, running as fast as they can to their next class.

* * *

Some after they leave their room, the school bell rings and the students, including Haruki and Akari, walk out of their respective classrooms. Haruki stepped out of the classroom yawning while Akari had her arms crossed in irritation, both of them holding white paper slips in their hands. The two had made it in time for their fourth class, having completely missed the first three classes. The teacher of their second class was on the stricter side and sent the two to the principal's office because of their tardiness. The partners walk their way to the principal's office in silence, ignoring the stares of the other students until one of the two who weren't taking the punishment as well as the other broke the silence.

Akari looks at Haruki with an annoyed expression. "If you hadn't overslept we wouldn't be late for class. Honestly, I thought you were better than that." Haruki copies Akari's expression and raises an eyebrow at her. "Says the girl who slumped in her chair the moment she sat down," he sarcastically drawls at her. Akari's face turns bright red and she is about to say something back when someone else yells at them from behind "Mr. Genos!"

The pair turn around when someone runs into Haruki and grabs onto his arm. The boy quizzically looks down to find a girl about his age wearing glasses and had yellow hair and light eyes. She has a weirdly overjoyed expression looks at him with starry eyes. "I watched your fights! All of them! You amazing, I just have to know why!" Haruki raises an eyebrow and tries to distance himself from an apparent fangirl of his. "I… Um… Who are you?" The girl looks at him fondly as she continues. "Kagari, Kagari Anjou. I'm in charge of the school newspaper and I was wondering if had the time to answer a few questions?" She squeezes his arm tighter, unfortunately pressing her chest against it, making Haruki avert his eyes and Akari look at both him and Kayano with indignation.

Akari steps up, puts a hand on Kagari's shoulder and pulls her away from Haruki. "OK, that's too close. You can't just throw yourself onto my partner like that! What are you doing anyway?" Kagiri lightly brushes Akari's hand off and innocently tilts her head for the other girl. "Oh, defensive aren't we? I just wanted to ask a few questions for the school paper? Why should that concern you that much, hm? Could it be that you two are more than just partners?" The faces of Akari and Haruki turn bright red as they wave their arms in front of them in protest. "No, it's not like that!" They both yell at the other girl in embarrassment.

" **He better not be anything more. Akari doesn't need a boyfriend yet."**

The entire hallway becomes silent as someone slowly walks towards the trio. Haruki raises an eyebrow and turns to Akari and is surprised at her wide-eyed expression. 'Who is she?' He questions himself in his mind and takes a good look at the new girl. She was a good foot shorter than Haruki, but there was an aura around her that made her seem more mature than someone for her age. She had light blue hair that was held up in a ponytail and lime green eyes which held a clear message of 'don't mess with me.'

The new girl walks up to Akari and makes a show of looking over her appearance. Everyone, even Haruki holds their breath when she steps away expecting a serious critic when the girl drops her facade and smiles at Akari. "Hi, Big Sis. It's nice to see you again." Everyone's mouth drops and Haruki looks at his partner with wide eyes and Akari puts both her hands over her mouth. "Ayano? Is it really you?" She breathes quietly. The girl, now known as Ayano, goes up and hugs her older sister making Akari bend down and hug her sister tighter. "I've missed you so much," Akari mumbles into her sister's hair. "I've missed you too," Ayano replies back.

Haruki smiles in the background at the little moment Akari and her sister are having, remembering someone close to him as well. The girls break away from each other and Ayano tilts her head to the side a dark shadow over her eyes. "So Big Sis… What's this I hear about a someone being 'More than a partner?" Haruki's smile instantly drops and Akari blushes while scratching her cheek with her pointer finger. "Well… about that."

"I can assure you that nothing is going on between us, I swear." Haruki steps forward extending his hand. "We haven't met yet, but my name is Haruki Genos. I'm Akari's partner, it's nice to meet you." For some strange reason, Akari feels an uncomfortable twinge in her heart when she says when he says they are just friends. _'Why does this bother me so much? We really are just friends, so why does him saying it make me feel this way?'_ On the other hand, Ayano's eyes widen and she slowly points a finger at the boy, "Well it's nice to meet you-wait, what did you say your last name was?"

" **Kiiiii-Chaaann!"**

For the second time today, someone comes running out of nowhere and rams into Haruki. This time, the force from the collision was enough to knock the boy over, the person on top falls on top of the boy, straddling him. Haruki sits up, rubbing the back of his head from the fall, his eyes widening when he sees the person who ran him over. It was a girl the same height as Ayano but had ash gray hair that flowed down to her back and burning orange eyes. She looked at Haruki with an overjoyed grin and bent down to hug him tightly. "Ki-chan it's been so long! I've missed you so much since you left! Are you doing OK? How are, classes? Seen any cute girls yet?"

Haruki chuckles from all the girl's questions and starts laughing, making the girl laugh with him. All the students in the hallway including Akari and Ayano watch the exchange between girl and Haruki on the floor with raised eyebrows and confused faces. The two eventually stop laughing gets up from the floor. Haruki puts an arm around the girl and gives her an affectionate shake on the shoulder. "To answer your questions Koharu; Yes. I'm doing OK, and yeah I've seen a few."

Koharu squeals with excitement and Ayano pinches the bridge of her nose and shakes her head. "I knew it. You **are** related to my roommate Mr. Genos." Akari watches her partner's interactions with his sister and smiles when she sees a genuine plastered on his face. _'So there was some light in his blackened reality. At least he has a good relationship with her.'_

"Hey, Akari! There's someone I want you to meet." Akari snaps out of her stupor when Haruki calls out to her, watching as he brings his little sister forward. "Akari this is my little sister Koharu. Koharu this is my partner Akari, be nice to her OK?" Akari watches with a blank expression at the change in Haruki's attitude. 'What's up with him? He never acts that way around me. Does his sister actually have that kind of effect on him?' Haruki sees Akari's dazed expression and waves a hand in front of her face. "Hey, Akari? Are you OK? Is something wrong?" The eyes of said girl widen and she slowly turns red and she waves her hands in front of her out of embarrassment. "What?! No! I mean yes! I mean..." She takes a deep breath before continuing. "I'm fine. It's just that I've never seen you act this way before, and that you have a little sister."

Haruki stops and realizes she's right about his behavior. He's always acted differently around her than the way he acts with other girls and his sister. _'Why do I act that way around her? What makes this girl so special?'_ He thinks silently to himself when something else comes to mind. He looks down at Koharu who is still under his arm. "Wait, Koharu how did you get into my school? Aren't you two years under me?" She is about to say something when she gasps and someone's hand tightly grips Haruki's shoulder, holding him in place. "So Mr. Genos and Ms. Shirozu, mind explaining why you're here instead of my office, where you're supposed to be?" Haruki turns his head around and meets the cold eyes of Kuroha staring him down. Akari's eyes widen as she remembers what she was supposed to be doing. Ayano and Koharu, who got out from under her brother's arm, take a cautious step back from their principal as she glares menacingly at their older siblings and motions for them to follow her.

* * *

Haruki and Akari silently stand in the principal's office as Kuroha berates them for their actions. "First the two of you were an hour late for class and immediately after, you decide to not to show up at my office like you were told to. The real question is why, so you can explain yourselves now." Akari looks at Haruki with a worried expression, knowing how sensitive he is about talking about his power. Instead, Haruki speaks first and gestures to Akari with his hand. "She knows about it. I showed her in the stadium and passes out afterward. Akari carried me back to our room and she fell asleep with me and that's why we were late to class." Kuroha closes her eyes and nods in acceptance motions for Haruki to continue his story. "We were late coming here because of our younger sisters. I don't even know why Koharu's here. She's two years younger than me, not even in high school yet. " Kuroha exhales when Haruki finishes his story and takes a puff of her cigarette. "Your sisters are here because they passed a special test that determined them worthy enough to enroll here and jumped a few grade levels. They may be a few years younger, especially you sister Mr. Genos, but they have you to help them adjust to this school life." The teens nod in approval, and Akari slowly takes in the fact that her sister was deemed the same level as her. _'I know for a fact that Ayano trained hard to get where she is. Looks like her hard work is finally paying off.'_ She thinks to herself until she feels a chill go through her. Kuroha's dark smirk slowly returns and the teens are left at her mercy. "So about your punishment…"

* * *

The two teens slowly walk back to their dorm after serving their punishment. They were tasked to help organize stacks of paper after class. It took almost two hours to get all the papers in their right files and all in the right order, and two didn't even start on their homework. Haruki opens the door to their room and walks over to his desk, slumping into his chair, Akari falling face first in her bed. Haruki looks over at Akari's tired face and flashes a small smile at her. "Well, that wasn't so bad right?" The girl says nothing while she gets up and tries to walk over to Haruki only to trip on her own feet and falling onto the boy and knocking him over.

Haruki land on his back and is forced to look up at Akari and her eyes widen when she realizes the position they are in. The two blush heavily and stare at each other without saying a word until Akari speaks first. "Hey, Haruki, why do you act differently around me?" The boy looks at her confused until he realizes what she means. "Whenever you're around me, you always act so cold, it's like you're not being yourself. But when you're with your sister, you act so much happier than you are with me." The boy's heart breaks at the sight of his partner so upset. "Am I just that unimportant to you? I thought we were partners?"

Haruki shifts his arms and sits up so he is leveled with Akari and looks straight into her eyes. "Akari that has nothing to do with us being partners. I can just relax easier when I'm with my sister than when I'm with others at school." He puts a hand on her shoulder and gives it a firm shake. "You may not realize it, but you're very important to me. I thought you might not be OK with someone with my power, but what you said back there in the stadium meant the world to me. It just takes a while to loosen up to someone." Haruki reaches over and pulls Akari into a hug. "I trust you. I wouldn't trade you for the world." Akari tears up at Haruki's words and hugs him back, relaxing until she falls asleep. Haruki hears her breathing slow down and falls asleep with her, his head landing against the side of his desk.

Unknown to sleeping teens, their door opens up and two people walk in. "Hey Mr. Genos, I just wanted to let you know that-" Ayano stops talking and is rooted in place at the sight of the position her older sister. "Hey, Ayano? What's wrong?" Koharu walks in from behind her partner and when she sees her older brother, her eyes widen in sudden anger. "Ki-chan?" A roll of thunder suddenly drums from the sky and Ayano looks over at her partner, who has shadows over her eyes and sparks of lightning surrounding her. "What is she doing to my Ki-chan? Ki-chan is my Ki-chan and mine alone." She holds her hand to the side and a lightning bolt flashes from the sky, "Strike them down, Ukonvasara!" A lightning bolt strikes Koharu's hand and her device appears in her hand. Koharu's device was a large golden war hammer with a long handle and a square base on the back end. The metal hammer part was made of gold and had a blue core in the center that was sparkling with lightning.

Koharu winds up to deliver a powerful strike at Akari when someone calls out her device behind her. "Bloom now, Blue Rose!" The bludgeon of Ukonvasara was held back by countless vines studded with thorns. Koharu looks back and faces Ayano, who holds a rapier with a blue rose as the guard. The blade was straight and double-edged and had a dark blue handle. A swirl of vines surrounded Ayano and when she pulled her arm back, the vines holding Ukonvasara pulled the weapon back. "Koharu, I get how you feel I really do. But getting mad at them can wait for tomorrow. Let my sister rest, OK?" The sparks surrounding Koharu fizzle out, her device doing the same, "Fine, OK." The sisters walk out of the room and close the lights behind them, leaving their older siblings asleep on the floor.


	6. Chapter 6-Setup

Akari slowly wakes up from her sleep and is surprised to see her bed in her field of vision. "Huh, why am I on the ground and why am I not on my bed?" She mumbles to herself when she feels something move under her. She looks up and finds Haruki's sleeping face leaning against the leg of his desk. Akari props herself up with her hands on either side of his body and looks down to and finds herself laying against him. Her face heats up as she looks at the position they are in and she tries to rationalize the situation in her mind. 'Wait this isn't what it looks like! I mean this does look bad, but nothing happened last night!' She sits up and looks down at his sleeping form. _'I mean he does look really handsome right now… Wait what am I thinking!? Snap out of it!?_ ' He suddenly begins to stir under her and Akari quickly get off of him before he can open his eyes.

Haruki rubs his eyes open and looks around the room with a half-lidded expression before focusing on his partner. "Hey there Akari. You uh, are you OK? Your face is looking pretty red right now." He asks in a calm voice. This, unfortunately, makes her blush even harder and starts stumbling on her words. "I-I don't k-know! I...We!" She shouts in embarrassment. Haruki shakes off the rest of his sleep and raises his hands in a calming gesture. "Whoa calm down. Did something happen when I was asleep?" Her face heats up even more and she turns around to hide her face. "No! It's nothing! Just… go take a shower already or were going to be late again!" She points to the bathroom and Haruki put up his hands in defense and gets up to go to the bathroom. "I wonder what's gotten into her?" Haruki mumbles to himself. "She usually doesn't act this way." When Akari hears the door close behind him, she puts her hands on the side of her face. "What am I doing?!" She whispers to herself. "Why did I act like that around him!? What's happening to me?!" She shakes her head in confusion and stops to take a long deep breath, feeling the blush leave her face. "No, I need to focus. I can't let my emotions become a liability. I can worry about this feeling later." She feels the blush completely leave her face as she hears the shower turn off and gets up to start the day.

* * *

Later after they leave the dorm, Akari keeps her head down and away from Haruki as they walk to class. The blue haired girl found it hard to look at her partner for some reason as they walked to class. _'What's going on?!' She mentally screams at herself. 'Why is it so hard to look at him? It's just Haruki so why is it so difficult?'_ She turns the corner to enter the main hall and accidentally runs into someone, making the person spill drink all over them. The smell of coffee hits her nose as she falls to the ground with that person. Some of the coffee hits her arm, but she uses some of her mana to dull the pain. She feels Haruki reach down behind her and help her up. "Hey, are you OK?!" He asks worriedly. "Yeah, I'm OK." She responds and she brushes herself up. She looks at the boy she knocked down and extends a hand to him. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going. Can I help you up?" She asks nicely but a hard slap knocks her hand away. "Save it! I don't need any pity from a shoddy girl like you!" Akari looks down at the person lying in front of her and sees a boy with short blond hair and black piercing eyes glaring daggers at her. The boy has his jacket hanging off his shoulders and wears a black graphic undershirt and four rings on either hand. Behind him, a small group of about five other boys with the same cloth style as him, looking down at Akari.

The stares of these boys were nothing compared to the royal officials she sometimes had to meet up with, yet she still felt the slightest bit of intimidation. Akari resisted the urge to draw herself up in front of the boys, not wanting to resort to power. She opens her mouth to say something back when Haruki puts his hand in front of her and holds her back. "Look it was an accident, alright. Let's just move on and forget about it." He says calmly, trying to defuse the situation. "Can it shrimp!" The boy yells in response and the other two boys behind him move up, cracking their fingers and necks loudly. "This girl has to…" The boy's eyes suddenly widen when he looks at Akari again. "Hey, you're that Shirozu girl right? The princes who transferred from out of the country.?" She puts on a slightly perverted face as he and his group move closer. "You can pay for this right?" He says gesturing to his jacket. He leans closer and Akari can smell his rancid breath, making her grimace and lean back.

She takes one step away from him and the leader's perverted face leaves his face. He brings his left hand down and a large two-handed mace appears in his hand. He slams the bludgeon into the ground, shattering the earth and making Akari and Haruki step back. Ohh, the princess and got a mouth, does she?" Akari moves her hand behind her, water starting to spiral into her hand. _'This boy…'_ Akari silently snarls. _'He's going to-!'_ Before she can make any move, Haruki steps in between the two, her arms out to his side to stop them. Akari looks up at Haruki with indignation and snarls at him. "Hey what are you doing?! I-" Haruki looks back at her, and she stops her shouting. Looking up at the boy, Akari could see Haruki's eyes glowing red like he was using his Noble art. _'He had that active already?'_ Akari though surprised. _'What's that going to do though? These guys aren't using any magic.'_

The gang leader looks at Haruki with a raised eyebrow and a scowling face. "Guys got an attitude, does he? Do you even know who we are?" Haruki gives the boys a once over and shrugs his shoulders at the boys. "Umm, should I be? I mean you don't seem like that much of a threat." Akari and the boys look at Haruki with a raised eyebrow, wondering if his statement was bravado or an actual response. The leader snarls and grabs Haruki by his uniform collar and holds him up with one hand. "Let me make this clear, you should be afraid of us." He adjusts his grip and holds up his mace in his other hand. "I'll be sure to beat that understanding into that thick skull of yours." Time slows down as Haruki narrows his eyes into a glare and Akari drops her things, moving her hand behind her as she activates her Device, water coming together to form Nereus. But before anyone can make a move against each other, a voice rings out that catches their attention. "That's enough! Everyone stand down!"

Everyone turns to the source of the voice, the leader setting Haruki down, and Kanzaki Subarashi walks in between the two groups, giving them disapproving looks. "Yeah, this fight isn't happening. She tells the gang leader. "I suggest the two of you put your weapons away and get to class or I'm reporting all of you to my mom." Haruki and Akari feel a menacing presence from Kanzaki and back away immediately, the glow leaving Haruki's eyes and Nereus dissolving into water. The leader of the group, however, refused to back down and walked up to Kanzaki, staring her down. "That's some talk coming from you, girly. Go run back to your mommy before we send you back home in an ambulance." He snarls at her.

The air suddenly stills and in the blink of an eye, Kanzaki whipped around the leader, knocking the weapon out of his hand and pulling his head to the side, holding a pushpen on his exposed neck. The other thugs back away from her and Haruki reflexively put an arm in front Akari. The leader holds his breath as Kanzaki gingerly pushes down on the clicker with her thumb. "Don't make me ask again." She says into the leader's ear, loud enough for the other thugs to hear. "Leave. Now. This is your final warning." She releases the leader and he falls to his knees, dry heaving and clutching his neck. The other thugs run over and help him get up before leading him away, the leader giving one last dark look at Akari. Kanzaki turns around to Haruki and looks behind him at Akari. "I apologize for his behavior, Ms, Shirozu. Mr, Isamu is known for his more violent tendencies." Kanzaki bows and puts on one last innocent smile before she leaves. "Get to class, OK!" She says cheerfully before skipping away. Haruki and Akari are left dumbfounded by the experience and decide to follow Kanzaki and walk off to class.


	7. Chapter 7-Secrets

**This is different from what I usually do. Instead of adding a new chapter, I'm shortening the story my mashing two chapters together. I feel that this makes the story flow better and it makes each individual chapter longer. I might do this again to other chapters for the other stories to this is the heads up.**

 **Edit: 1/18/2019**

* * *

Akari sat through class in silence. Her gaze was completely focused on Haruki, who was taking notes in front of her. History seemed less important after what had happened that morning. In her mind, she could still see Isamu and his group of thugs in front of her. Anger surges through her when she remembers how they thought her title meant something to her. _'They don't know anything. It's not like I can use it here at school. The administration won't let me.'_

"Miss Shirozu!" Akari suddenly snaps out her trance and quickly stands up and looks at the teacher, who gestures to the board with his hand. "What's the answer, Miss?" Akari quickly scans the board to catch up with the lesson but the teacher shakes his head before she can finish. "Pay attention in class Miss Shirozu," he says and looks to the other side of the room. "Can anyone else tell me the answer?" Akari sits back down in shame when someone passes her a notebook from the front. She looks at Haruki who scribbles something into his notebook before passing it back to Akari. [Are you feeling OK? You usually focus in class.] The girl shaking her head and lets out a sigh. Another image of Isamu appears in her mind and she clenches her fist when she remembers how she almost used her Device on him. A horrifying image of her slicing the gang leader in half with Nereus appears in her mind. She quickly shakes her head, trying to forget the image and picks up her pen as scribbles another note back to Haruki and gives his notebook back.

[I'm fine. What happened earlier is still on my mind that's all.] Now it was Haruki's turn to get angry at the gang leader. Seeing how he stood up and threatened his partner over and accident tipped him off so much that he activated Predator Sense without him realizing it. Haruki feels his head start to throb and his eyes start to flicker with red light. He closes his eyes tightly, pinching his brow and dull the pain. A vision of him standing over Isamu appeared in his mind. He watched as his copy raised Lythronax over his head, a wicked smile on its face as it brought the blade down on the helpless boy. Dark seeping red stains Haruki's mind and he suddenly snaps out of the dream, taking quick breaths from the shock. His thought is suddenly interrupted when the speaker blares overhead and Kanzaki's voice echoes through the room. **[Can Akari Shirozu and Haruki Genos please report to the director's office?]** The two students in question look at each other and the teacher sighs disappointedly. "Alright, get moving you two." Akari and Haruki gather their things and leave the room, closing the door behind them.

* * *

"I assume you both know why you're here?" Kuroha asks the two teens, who stand in front of her with their arms to their sides. Haruki briefly looks behind the director and sees Kanzaki leaning against the wall looking idle at the teens. "The two of you know the rules here. You're not allowed to use your Devices outside of authorized combat. Especially those on school grounds." Akari hung her head in shame, knowing that the director was referring to her.

Haruki looked at his distraught partner and steps forward when Kuroha raises her hand to stop him. "Miss Shirozu, I hope you understand that there will be harsher punishments the next time this happens." Akari sees Kuroha slightly glare at her and she clenches her fists in regret. The teen bows in response. "I understand Madam Director. I swear this won't happen again." The Director looks down at the girl for a seconds before sighing and waving her away. The two teens bow and move towards the door, but as an afterthought, Kuroha looks to at the teens before they leave. "Actually Mr. Genos, can you stay for a while? There's something I want to discuss with you." Akari looks back at the partner who stands in the doorway, looking back at the director. She watches him give her a nod before walking back and closing the door behind him. Akari watches her partner leave and clutches her uniform over her heart. _'Haruki… Are you going to be alright?'_

* * *

Akari walks through the hallway of the school, her thoughts not leaving Haruki. An image of him getting punished in her stead made her heartthrob, but she chuckles nonetheless. "He would be the one to help me out, even if it meant he got in trouble because of it," she thinks reluctantly. "I guess that's just how he is." "And how do you know that?" Another voice startles Akari and she turns around to see Koharu staring her down with her arms at her sides. "What makes you think you know Ki-chan better than I do? You have only known him for about a week, I've known him for years." Akari steps back with her hands up. "No... I..." Ayano suddenly comes up behind Koharu and holds her back. "Hey watch it Koharu. She didn't want this you know-!" Ayano and Akari pale at what was just spoken and Koharu looks at Akari with shocked eyes. "You... what…?"

Akari looks down so that her hair shades her eyes. _'So, it's come to this,'_ she thinks regretfully. She looks back up at her partner's sister as a sad smile forms on her face. "It's time I told you then since you know already." She tells Koharu. "The truth is… **I never wanted to be a magical knight."**

* * *

A young four-year-old Akari slowly wakes up from a bed, rubbing her eyes as people around her coax her awake. She looks around at the maids with her, but all she sees are straight faces because their eyes are a shadowed in the morning light. "Wake up Princess." The all say in unison. "It's time to get ready." Akari looks at the maids with a dead look in her eyes, but she still holds her arms out to the side as they come closer to her.

' _In my home country,'_ Akari explained, _'I was treated like a goddess. I knew I was the princess, but I was only I child back then. The weight of an entire country was something I wasn't ready for.'_

The scene changes to a seven-year-old Akari sitting at a table with maids all around her. Stern voices fill the girl's ears, filling her mind with things like, "Posture is important." "Do as your father asks of you." "Listen when we are talking to you!" The girl struggles to stay awake from the dozens of lessons she had to do throughout the day. Suddenly, one of the maids doesn't see where she was going and ran into another one if the maid, causing them to drop what they were holding. One of the maids shouts in surprise, catching Akari's attention. She turns to the scene and her eyes focus on a single teacup that got thrown in the exchange. She feels her senses numb as something bloom within her and extends her hand out of instinct.

Plates and cups shatter at the maid's feet, but no one moves to help them. Instead, their focus is on the air above them, where a floating ball of water that rippled and permeates above the maids. Akari's breath suddenly hitches in her throat and her concentration breaks, making the bubble pop and spray water on the ground.

' _That was my first experience with my powers as a knight.'_ The young Akari looks down at her hands with joy and starts giggling. She looks up at the maids for approval, but she becomes disheartened when she sees their expressions. _'I thought they would praise me for accomplishing something. But the faces they made all said otherwise.'_ All around the girl, her servant's faces were illuminated by daylight, and looks of pure fear and horror became visible to the girl. All the people around her shied away from the young princess. Akari looked around desperately for someone to some recognition or praise, but it never came.

' _With the discovery of my powers, training to be a princess stopped and it immediately shifted to becoming a magical knight.'_ Akari says solemnly as another memory surfaces. In the royal training grounds of the royal castle, a sword is held up to Akari's neck, her own sword fallen at her feet. The instructor moved his sword away from the girl and rest it over his shoulder as Akari bends down to pick up her sword. "You have to get stronger Princess." The instructor says to the younger Akari. "If you can't overcome your enemies in a fight then you'll never win." Akari takes deep breaths and looks at the instructor with narrowed eyes. She struggles to pick up her sword, but she doesn't have the strength to hold it up anymore. The instructor sees this and turns around to leave. "I think that's enough for today-"

When he says this to her, Akari suddenly has a flashback of the father presenting her instructor to her. He looked at his daughter with an uncharacteristic grin. "Akari, this is your new instructor. Since you have discovered your powers, today you start your training to become a magical knight." The young girl looks up at the man who waves and her, and she gives a light wave back. _'Back then, I didn't understand what my father intended for me back then. But I knew I wouldn't be able to disappoint him.'_

"No!" Akari suddenly yells and the instructor turns around to see her with her sword held behind her with both hands. "One more time!" She yells in defiance. "I can still fight!" The instructor sees her display of determination and gets into a fighting stance with his sword behind him, pointed at the girl. "Alright. This is the last one." He says as he prepares for a quick fight. A moment passes without any movement until the instructor suddenly rushes forward with his sword extended to pierce the girl. Akari grits her teeth and tries to swing her sword upward to block the attack. Her hands vibrate as her sweat flows through her body and flows around the edge of her sword, sharpening the blade into a fine point.

A metal clang in resounds from the two blades and the instructor is blown back from an unseen force. He falls on his back and looks down to see his only with the bottom of his sword in his hands. He hears a ringing in his ear as the point of his blade falls from the sky and implants itself in the ground near his hand. He starts to slowly chuckle before becoming a bout of laughter and props himself back up. "Well done Princess! Maybe you do have-" He suddenly stops when a sword is held up to his neck, and the water of the blade ripples with power. He slowly looks up and sees Akari staring down at him with her hair shadowing her glowing yellow eyes. "P-Princess? C-Can you put the s-sword down, please?" Akari closes her eyes and takes a long breath before lowering the sword and falling over to the side. The instructor looks down to Akari and sees the water around her sword falls of its blade drenching the ground. The instructor smiled and chuckled as he dropped his own sword. "Maybe you do have a chance as a knight after all." He says before he passes out.

* * *

' _For the next few years, I trained to not only control my powers but to use them in combat and fight as a magical knight.'_ Day after day, Akari's training slowly progressed and she gained more experience. Somedays, she would focus on her fighting style by training against instructors all at once. Other days she would focus on her powers by trying to move large amounts of water at the same time. Through blood and sweat, her power and skill grew until she was able to beat all of them.

Eventually, a twelve-year-old Akari stands over her fallen instructors, breathing heavily with a broken sword clutches loosely in her hand. She looks to the side and sees her father looking down at her from the balcony over the training grounds. She doesn't see his eyes from the shade, but she could still see his satisfied smile for his daughter. Akari's eyes widen and her vision starts to fizzle and crack like television static.

' _That was when I understood that becoming a knight wasn't something that I intended for myself, it was the will of my father. Seeing that all my training was only for the pleasure of my father destroyed all of my motivation to continue training.'_

Akari stares into nothingness with a dead look in her eyes as the years pass by. She doesn't even acknowledge the acceptance letter to Hagun Academy. By the time she wakes up, she looks up and down her extended fist to see a knocked-out Haruki lying back against the wall. She stands back up straight and tilts her head at the fallen body of the boy with a raised eyebrow. "Wha-What the heck just happened?"


	8. Chapter 8-Words not Spoken

**I don't know if this will happen but if the notifications say that I uploaded multiple chapters today, it's because I accidentally messed up the order when trying to change the names of the other chapters.**

* * *

As soon as Haruki closes the door behind him, the air around the Kuroha and Kanzaki becomes more serious. Haruki feels a shiver run up his spine and he clasps his hands behind him as he walks to the center of the room. "Is there a problem?" He asks the headmaster, tentatively. Kuroha shakes her head. "No there isn't. Oddly enough, the fact that there isn't is one in itself." Haruki raises his eyebrow and Kuroha suddenly looks up at him with a dark look in her eyes. "Mr. Genos, that is your relationship with the princess?" Haruki tilts his head and Kuroha looks at him with a hard stare. "Mr. Genos, what is your relationship with Ms. Shirozu?" The boy looks confused at the headmaster at her question. "She's my partner? What are you talking about?" Kuroha exhales in exasperation and pulls out her phone, turning it on to a voice recorder. "I'm referring to this..." She hits a button and a recording starts to fill the room. **[Let me ask you something, now that you know my real powers. If I showed you this power on the day we met and used it against you in that fight, would you still agree to be my partner?]** Haruki's eyes widen when he recognizes the voice. _'This was in back in the arena!'_ He realizes as Akari's voice starts to play from the phone. **[Of course, I would still be your partner! We were never open to each other with secrets and to be honest, I still have a few I haven't told you. But I… I want to be with you!]**

Haruki's face turns bright red when Kuroha turns off the recording and gives him a knowing look. "So… about your relationship with the princess." The boy panics and waves his arms in front of him in protect, his face turning even redder. "Wait look, that's not how it is! I… I!" Kuroha raises her own hand and stops him. "I know, and that's the point." Haruki suddenly stops and looks at his headmaster. "Say what you will about your relationship with the princess, but you can't stop the rumors." Haruki slowly lowers his hands feels his blood run cold. "Wait, what rumors?" Kuroha opens the pictures on her phone, revealing Haruki and Akari doing various things like training and eating together. Haruki takes the phone and scrolls through all the pictures, feeling his other hand slowly clench in anger. "Ma'am… Where did you get this? Who took them?" The headmaster shrugs her shoulders in defeat. "Honestly, I really don't know who took them. These pictures were sent to me via a random untraceable number." Haruki flips through the pictures, slowly gritting his teeth and his eyes start to slowly glow red. "I swear, I'm gonna find this person and-" "I don't think this has to be said Mr. Genos, but you can't assault anyone on campus." Kuroha interrupts him. Haruki looks up and glares at his headmaster with glowing red eyes, and she stares back at him with her own darker stare.

The boy stares his headmaster down, only the sound of their breath filling the room until he closes his eyes and shakes his head. When he opens his eyes, the red glow had faded and he turns around, scratching his head. "All right then, so what? Do I have to leave Akari alone from now on?" "Not necessarily," Kuroha responds. "You just have to remember who you are compared to her." Haruki looks back at the headmaster, who looks him straight in the eye. "Aside from her sister, you are the closest person to the princess right now. You have to remember that she is not only your 'partner' but also the princess of another country." She crosses her arms over her desk. "Like it or not, Miss Shirozu has a target on her back, and you're the most likely person for others to exploit to get to her."

Haruki looks to the side solemnly, knowing that the headmaster is right. "I'll try not to get into trouble. But can you not tell Akari about this?" Kuroha raises an eyebrow and the boys request as he turns to face her. "The last thing I want is to worry Akari, so for now can you not tell her about the pictures. I won't go after anyone if you're worried about that." The headmaster shakes her head. "If I don't tell her, then what are you going to do? Are you going to tell her yourself?" The boy looks away to the side with a look of disdain. "I'll… tell her when the time is right." The headmaster raises her eyebrow in interest. _'I wonder what the_ "right time" _means for you Mr. Genos.'_

Koharu looks and Ayano look up at Akari with wide eyes. The blue haired girl looks to the side, holding her arm nervously. "Well… Now you know my story Koharu." The girl says nothing and plays with her hands. "I… um… I-" "I don't know if I can ask this from you." Akari suddenly interrupts. "But can you not tell Haruku about this? My past I mean." The two younger girls look up at Akari with wide eyes. "Wait what!? Why not!?" They both ask at the same time. Akari holds her hands up to stop them. "Shh! Keep it down! I want you to keep it a secret because I don't…" She hesitates for a second. "I don't want him to give up on me." Koharu and Ayano give at the older girl with confused looks. "Give up on you?" Ayano asks her sister. "What are you talking about." "Its… I can't say. Not yet." Ayano extends her hand to her sister, but when she sees her clench her sleeve, she lowers her arm. _'Big Sis what are you doing? What's going on?'_


	9. Chapter 9-An Attack

**I only realized recently that the anniversary chapter wasn't made yet, so this is me searching up the time. Anyway, thank you to everyone who read this story up until this point! I hope you enjoy the story as it continued to grow.**

* * *

The metal sound of swords clashing fills the front of the Hagun Dormitory. Haruki is thrown back from an attack, but he uses his momentum to spin into a sideways slash. Akari parries his seeing and throws the attack to the side, causing the two of them to lose balance and jump back away from each other. The two teens stare each other down panting for breath until Haruki slumps back onto an outdoor table, his weapon fading away into dark crimson flames. "That *pant* was a good *pant* workout." He says in between breaths. Akari stumbles over and flops down beside him, her own weapon dissolving into water. "Yeah, I think *pant* we have gotten used to each other's *pant* fighting style." Haruki reaches over and grabs his water bottle and hands it to Akari.

The two of them cool off when a gust of wind passes by, blowing against the two. Haruki covers his face but his eyes trail to the girl next to him, with her blue flowing in the wind. For a second he loses himself, but his memories snap back to a few weeks ago in the Headmaster's office. _'You have to remember that she is not only your_ 'partner' _but also the princess of another country.'_ Haruki subtlely inches away from Akari in case anyone was watching. "So… you've been here for about a week or two, how have you adjusted here?" Akari leans back and looks to the sky. "Well, all things considered, I'd say I've gotten used to this place very well." She gets up and holds her hands behind her. "Although, I haven't seen much outside of the school. Classes keeping me here and all." Haruki scratches his cheek when he remembers something. "You know, I heard some people in class talking about a new mall that apparently opened up recently. Do you want to go tomorrow after class?"

Akari looks back at Haruki with wide eyes but she quickly turns away again, bringing a hand to her face. "Umm… Sure why not?" Haruki nods his head and gets up while grabbing his water bottle. "Alright then, see you after class!" He calls back to her as he walks to the dorm, not knowing that behind him, Akari was hiding a large grin beneath her hand.

Later that day, the two of them ended up at the mall as they promised. Haruki wore a dark gray sweater over a white t-shirt, jeans, and white sneakers. Akari, on the other hand, had a yellow shirt ripped jeans and black shoes. The two of them had pained expressions as their respective younger sisters followed behind them. _'How did it come to this?'_ The two of them thought silently as the walk through the doors into the mall.

* * *

 **20 minutes earlier…**

* * *

After Haruki and Akari had finished classes, they went back to the dormitory quickly and changed into civilian clothes. They were about to leave when they run into their younger sisters at the door. "Ki-chan? Where are you going?" Koharu asked her brother, the stiffness of her voice making him uneasy. "We should come with you," Ayano said before her sister could interject. "We wouldn't want anything bad to happen to you now would we?" Haruki held his hands up in surrender as he nervously chuckles. "Sure you can come… I guess." Akari looked up at her partner in shock while their sisters smiled triumphantly.

* * *

Some waiting later the four of them left for the mall. Haruki had a look of indifference, while Akari drilled holes into the back of her sister's head. The younger sisters had blank stares on their faces and they give each other a short nod in understanding, letting their own secret agenda fall into place.

The four teenagers wander the mall blindly, looking over the large rectangular gaps that reveal the three lower floors while they window shop. Throughout the entire trip, Akari tried getting Haruki by herself, but their younger sisters kept interrupting them and leading him somewhere else. _'Why do they keep doing this?'_ The blue-haired girl wondered. They eventually stop at an indoor restaurant for dinner, with both partners sitting across from one another. Haruki looked around his table and felt the awkward silence starting to set in. "So ah, Koharu how did you meet Ayano?" Haruki asks his sister to break the ice. The two girls suddenly turn bright red and turn away from each other making Haruki and Akari look at their younger siblings with raised eyebrows. "Ayano?" Her older sister asked in concern. "What hap-" "She walked in on me!" The younger girl said quickly, making the others at the table turn red from embarrassment. "I forgot to lock the door on the first day and she walked in when I was changing," Ayano explained. "I said I was sorry... " Koharu mumbled to the side and looked up at her brother, who was also red. "What's wrong with you Ki-Chan? How did you meet Akari." The boy's face got even redder and he stood up and moves to the outside of the booth. "I-I'm gonna go to the bathroom. Be right back." He says quickly when Ayano gets up after him. "Yeah, I gotta go too." The two of them go to the back of the restaurant and as soon as they are out of sight, Koharu rests her shoulders on the table. "Finally, I thought they would never leave." She says to herself and Akari feels a sudden shift in the atmosphere around her.

"What are you talking about?" The older girl asks when Koharu glares at her, small sparks of lightning in her orange eyes. "I mean Ki-Chan. You're always trying to get him alone with you. You've been doing it the entire day!" Akari's face turns red again and looks away from the girl. 'She noticed?!' She thought to herself. Koharu leans forward, resting her elbows in the table and staring Akari in the eye. "Let's get straight to the point." The young girl starts. "What do you think of my brother? Like as a person." Akari thought about the first time he met Haruki, their arguments and their first battle against one another. "Well, he's smart, kind of reckless and willing to fight others if need be." Koharu slowly nodded her head when Akari looks down at the table with a deflated look. "But, despite all that, he's afraid. Scared of being feared by others, scared of being alone, scared that others will leave him for what he can do."

That one day in the arena, the day Haruki showed her his real Noble Art, the promise they stay together as partners enter her mind and replays over and over again. A small smile creases her face and Koharu leans back against her chair. "There's more to my brother's Noble Art than you think." Koharu suddenly says making Araki look up in interest. "Ki-Chan has been practicing with Blood Hunter for years now, but despite all that time, whenever he loses control of his emotions he-" The two of them suddenly hear shouting coming from outside the restaurant and when the stand up to look, they are shocked when they see a large man slowly walking towards them, a large black ax within his hand.

* * *

Haruki finishes washing his hands in the bathroom and looks at himself in the mirror as he drys them. "I wonder why Koharu and her partner wanted to come with us?" He says to his reflection when a feminine voice answers next to him. "Isn't it obvious?" Haruki jumps back in shock as Ayano looks up at him with her hands on her hips. "We came because we wanted to talk to you." "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! THIS IS THE MEN'S ROOM!" Haruki shouted in surprise but the girl waves her off. "Relax, we're the only ones in here." She says nonchalantly. Haruki shakes his head and turns away from Ayano. "Yeah but… ah, nevermind. What are you doing here anyway?"

Ayano slowly walks closer to Haruki until she is right under his nose. "What do you think of my sister?" She asks flatly and Haruki lets out an impatient groan. "This again?" He mutters under his breath and turns to face Ayano. "Akari is my roommate and partner, nothing else." He says firmly, making the younger girl raise her eyebrow. "I'm serious!" He says defiantly and the girl and raises her hands in surrender and backs away. "Alright then. I just wanted to be sure."

The moment she grips the door handle Haruki hears quick footsteps coming from outside. "Wait, come here!" He says quickly as he grabs Ayano's arm and pulls her into one of the stalls, locking the door behind him just in time someone else walks into the bathroom. The teens hold their breath, both of them standing on opposites sides of the toilet to hide their feet. Two human shadows walk into the bathroom when one of them grabs the other by the back. "Dude, what are you doing?! We're supposed to be checking for anyone else!" The person yells and his friends forcefully shrugs him off. "I am! Watch this!" The other exclaims and when the person moves his arms Haruki can hear the metallic click of a weapon echo through the room. He quickly jumps in front of Ayano and the man starts shooting the bathroom stalls with his gun through the door. Haruki covers Ayano's mouth to stops her from screaming as the man unloads his magazine on the two stalls until his gun starts clicking. "See?" The shooter says to his partner. "Now we know there's no one in here!" He says with a laugh while the other sighs and starts walking out. "Whatever man."

The two of them walk out of the bathroom and Haruki waits until he can't hear them anymore to remove his hand from Ayano. "W-What was that?!" The younger girl gasps in shock. "I don't know" He replies as he looks through the bullet holes on the door. "But I have a feeling it's not good."


	10. Chapter 10-Strike Back

Haruki waits for the men to leave the bathroom and move out of earshot before removing his hand from Ayano's mouth. "W-What was that?!" The younger girl gasps in shock. "I don't know" He replies as he looks through the bullet holes on the door. "But I have a feeling it's not good." Haruki backs away from the girl and slowly peer out of the bathroom stall to see countless bullet marks all over the walls and shattered glass where the mirror once was. "I have to call Akari," Ayano says as she pulls out her phone but Haruki grabs it before she can type in the number. "What are you doing?!" He whispers yells to the younger girl. "If you call her now, you going to let them know that there are people still here!" He hands the phone back and looks moves to the door and slowly peeks outside. He can't see anything from the door but he can hear people shouting from inside the mall. "Dang it. They've already rounded up the rest of the people."

"What are we going to do?" Ayano asks while Haruki closes the door again. "We have no way out of here and we have no way to defend ourselves. We can't stand up to people with guns." Haruki puts a hand on his chest and feels the holes in his shirt and wet red stains surrounding them. _'Maybe you can't but I certainly can.'_ He turns to her and says in a low voice. He peers out the door again and after confirming that no one is around, turns back to Ayano. "Come on, the two of us have to make it to the surveillance room. From there we can decide our next move." "Are you insane!? You want us to go out there into the open!? We'd be taking down instantly before we get to do anything." Haruki stands up and lifts his sweater and shows her the holes in his shirt. "Don't worry, just stay behind me when we go out." The girl looked at the holes in his bloodied shirt and met Haruki's eyes with wonder. "How did you-" Haruki put a finger to his mouth and nodded his head out the door. "Let's get our sisters back first. You can ask Akari for answers afterward."

Akari and Koharu sat in the center of a circle of people with their hands over the back their heads. The other people around them looked terrified as a bunch of men with familiar clothes and standing over them with their devices out in the open. Akari looked around at the men, eyeing all of their weapons. "Who are these people?" Koharu whispers to Akari and one of the men stomps his foot on the ground, making everyone flinch at the sound. "HEY SHUT UP ALL OF YOU! I DON'T WANNA HEAR ANYTHING OUT OF ANYONE!" His voice echoed through the now empty mall and everyone promptly went quiet. Akari looks at the boy with indignation and quietly whispers back to Koharu. "These people are just nuisances. Don't worry, I can take care of them." Koharu nods her head but when she turned away, Akari looks down with a nervous expression. _'Haruki, Ayano, I hope the two of you are all right.'_ She silently prays. Suddenly, a loud bang rings out from behind her, and everyone looks at the mall doors as they burst open and a familiar face walks into the mall and as soon as Akari recognizes him, she scowls in disgust.

* * *

Haruki watches the entire scene unfold from the security cameras. He grits his teeth when he sees someone walk in from the main entrance. "That son of a-" He mumbles through clenched teeth when Ayano nudges his shoulder. "Who's that? Is that their leader?" Haruki bites back his anger and steps away from the screen. "Yeah, he is." Ayano leans forwards and watches the man talking to the rest of his men. "So, we just have to take him down and we're through." She says matter-of-factly and starts to move toward the door. Suddenly the two of them hear a loud ringing from behind them, making them spin around and fall into a fighting stance only to find no one with them. They frantically look around the room for anyone besides them, when Haruki suddenly stops and reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his ringing phone. Ayano looks back at him with a deadpan stare as he answers the phone. "Uhh... Hello?" **[Mr. Genos? Is that you?]** Haruki's eyes widen when he recognizes the voice on the other side of the phone. "Director? Is that you?" He says in surprise, making Ayano surprised as well.

* * *

"To be honest, I'm surprised that you answered the phone," Kuroha says as she types up a form on her computer. "I assumed that you were captured along with the others in the mall." Haruki scoffs when he hears her. **[Well Ayano and I got lucky and we avoided being caught. So, does that mean you know about the situation right now?]** He asks her and she closes her eyes stubs out her cigarette on a tray before answering. "Unfortunately, yes. The police have already surrounded the mall and while these aggressors have taken everyone in the mall hostage." She types more commands onto her computer and pictures of students in Hagun Academy uniforms, one of which makes she scowls. "I think we both know who's behind all of this." She can hear the disgust in Haruki's voice when he answers her. **[Yes, but what are you going to do about it? You can't reach us from the school and Ayano and I can't do anything about them.]** Kuroha chuckles and types out names onto another file. "That's not entirely true. I'm giving the four of you clearance to use your devices outside of school." She hits a button on her computer and several progress bars simultaneously appear and they fill up as the verification is completed. "I expect you to use this clearance wisely. Get out safe Mr. Genos." **[We won't let you down Director.]** Haruki says before ending the call. Kuroha looks out the window and a somber smile. _'I wonder how they will overcome this?'_

* * *

Haruki put away his phone and looks down at Ayano. "Alright, now that we have clearance, we can-" Suddenly the two of them hear a loud shriek from outside followed by gunfire. They run out of the room and look over the edge of the floor to see a wall of lightning surrounding a group of people and Akari holding Nereus sideward in front of her while blocking a guy with glowing yellow ax. "Akari!" Ayano shouts in worry and Haruki's eyes start glowing red and he holds his hand out. "Manifest, my darkest desire! Lythronax!" Black tendrils come together and Haruki grips his sword and jumps down from the edge. "Get away from my partner!"


	11. Chapter 11-Blood Hunter

Akari watches Isamu walks in with two thugs net to him, both holding large guns. She scowls in disgust while Koharu places her hand on the ground, causing small sparks if yellow lightning to appear near her hand. "This might take a while. Can you distract them for me?" Akari breaks out of her trance and looks down at Koharu. "How? We can't do anything while we're pinned down like this." Akari whispers back when she is suddenly grabbed by the back of her shirt collar and hoisted up by the same man who shouted at them. "What did I tell you about making noise?!" He shouts in her ear. Akari winces from the shouting but keeps a neutral expression when she responds. "You… You said quiet." She manages to say before he throws her to the ground, knocking the wind out of her. "That's right! I told you all to be quiet, but you seem to be incapable of doing that!" He shouts and pushes her onto her back with his boot. Akari clutches her stomach as struggles to breathe and looks in horror as the thug above her draws a sword and raises it above her head. She closes her eyes as the blade falls toward her when a voice suddenly cries out. "That's enough!" She slowly opens her eyes to see the blade only a few inches from her stomach before the thug pulls it away and Akari pushes herself up.

Isamu slowly walks forward towards the thug and firmly grips his shoulder. "I told you we needed her alive! What are you doing, idiot?!" He shoves him aside and the other guy slowly walks away, rubbing his shoulder from the shove. Isamu looks back at Akari, who is still lying on the ground, and slowly walks toward her until he's standing on top of her. "I told you, you should be afraid of us." He leans down and reaches out to grab her when Akari hears Koharu shout from the circle of people and raise her hand to the sky. "THUNDERSTORM WALL!" Five pillars of lightning shot up from around the circle of civilians and smaller bolts came out of the sides of the pillars and connect together to create a wall between them.

The people in the circle start screaming in fear and the men surrounding the circle start to shooting the wall of lightning. Koharu stands up and clutches her hand together and the bullets get reflected off of the wall and away from the bystanders. Isamu turns his head to see the wall of lightning and Akari took the chance and quickly threw a water ball at the back of Isamu's head. The man stumbles from the blow and Akari gets to her feet and holds her hands in front of her. "Become my servant, Nereus!" Her Device quickly forms in her hands just in time as the large thug with the ax from before swings it down and it clashes against her sword. Akari grit her teeth when she hears someone from behind her shout. "Get away from my partner!"

* * *

Haruki jumps off the railing of the upper floor and lands behind two sword-wielding thugs, one of which doesn't turn in time and gets knocked out when Haruki hits him with the blunt end of his sword. The second thug tries to slash at Haruki, but he is easily parried and kicked back by Haruki. More thugs suddenly appear and flood the room as Haruki spins his sword in his hand gets slowly walks forward to meet them.

Isamu looks at him men getting knocked back and forth by a single person in front and clicks his tongue. "Damn, I thought everyone was rounded up. Of all the people to be running around, why'd it have to be that guy." He turns around and snaps his fingers at two of his men. "Hey! You two! With me!" He shouts and walks towards an emergency of the mall. "Sir, wait!" The large thug says with an outstretched hand toward the door when Isamu holds the door open and the men with him run out. "Hold them off for us, would you Reiji?" He tells the thug and closes the door behind him. Reiji nods his head and takes up his ax and turns around to face Akari, who already has a veil of water around Nereus.

"He's left you behind. You don't have to do what he says." She tells him but he shakes his head and raises his ax up. "You're wrong. I'm indebted to him. I owe it to him to follow what he says." Reiji swings his ax at Akari again, who holds up her sword to block the attack when a concussive shock forces Akari onto her knees when the weapons collide. She gasps from the pain and grits her teeth to push back against the ax. "What.. was that?" She asks through gritted teeth and Reiji smiles and pushes down harder. "Just a small taste of my Noble art. I can make it worse for you. Just watch!" Akari feels her entire body being weighed down creates small pillars of water under her arms to help hold her up. "This… power is…!" She grunts and continues to hold her sword up.

* * *

On the other side of the mall, Haruki swings his sword back and forth against the horde of thugs going against him. Countless thugs try to stop him, armed with a wide variety of weapons and they are able to get small scratches and cut on the boy before he heals his injuries and slashes them away. He suddenly feels something pierce his shoulder and quickly glances at himself and sees a small bullet wound in his left arm. He looks to the side and quickly raises Lythronax in front of his face as countless bullets started coming at him. He kneels on the ground to stay behind his sword and out of the corner of his eye, he sees a few more thugs flanking him on both sides.

His eyes glow bright red and blood streamed out of the bullet wound on his shoulder and formed larger copies of Lythronax that floated at his sides and blocks the rest of the bullets. Haruki puts his hands over his ears from all the of the ringing of the bullets, but the noise still came through his hands. "So… annoying…" He grunts through clenched teeth when a stray bullet passes in between the swords and hits him in the leg. His concentration breaks for a second and when he clutches his leg, the swords of blood come apart and he is suddenly filled with bullets holes on both his sides. The thugs stop firing and Koharu looks at her brother in shock and tears slowly filled her eyes. Ayano, went down from the upper floors also stops and stares at Haruki who looks down with wide eyes at his wounds. A few seconds pass and he falls face first to the ground, landing in the pool of his blood.

A sickening thud echos through the mall and Akari briefly looks behind her and her eyes widen. Reiji raises his ax to strike again when she stabs the ground with her sword, causing a geyser of water to shoot out from under Reiji and pushes him back. She turns around and swings her sword in an arc, causing a crescent blade of water to shoot out from her sword and hit two of the thugs surrounding Haruki. They stumble a bit and turn around and point their guns at Akari when there is a loud metallic crack. The thugs look down at their weapons to see a large spike of blood running through the side of the barrel of their guns. They all stare at the spikes in shock before the blood wraps around their weapons and lifts them into the air before the blood spike explodes with smaller spikes the break apart the weapons.

The metal parts rain on the thugs and they look to the ground to see a large pool of blood under their feet. "What the?!" One manages to shout before more spikes shoot out from the pool and strike them in their shoulders. They shout in pain and fall to the floor, with the spikes retracting back into the pool of blood. Everyone in the mall watches in silence as Haruki's body coughs and slowly props himself up on his hands. Akari, Koharu and Ayano widen their eyes and Haruki stands up straight and he opens his eyes and stares at the thugs. All the thugs look in awe and fear as his eyes blaze dark red and blood slowly rises from the ground and forms into seven longswords that float at his side. The rest of the blood flows into Haruki's wounds that slowly heal up the some of cuts and bullet holes from the fight and he start to breathe normally again. "Devour them." He chants and the sword fly away and cut away at the limbs of the thugs making all of them fall down in pain, clutching their broken limbs as they scream.

Reiji looks at the blades of blood in horror when Haruki's eyes focus on him and he slashes his hand in his direction, making the swords of blood follow the path of his hand and strike the handle of the ax that Reiji was able to hold up in time, cutting the weapon in half. Reiji panics and tries to run away and Haruki rears his arm back for another swing when his arm is suddenly held back by vines that sprouted from the ground. He looks at his arm and he raises his other arm to break the vines when Akari runs up and hugs Haruki, making him freeze up and look distant. "Stop, please. I'm fine. You don't have to fight anymore." His blinks and his eyes stop glowing and he collapses into her arms, the blades of blood returning to his body and healing the rest of his wounds. Koharu lowers the barrier around the civilians and Ayano retracts the vines as police officers burst through the door and descended on the mall to control the situation.


	12. Chapter 12-Recovery

Haruki opens his eyes and his first thought of consciousness is, _'This isn't my room is it?'_ He hears the slow constant beeping of a machine as he sits up in his bed and finds large metal bed rest over his headrest. He looks around the room and sees Akari sitting in a chair asleep with her head against the wall. She stirs when he hears him get up and her face brightens up when she sees him. "Haruki? You're awake!" She says and gets up from her chair to stand next to him. Haruki looks down at his body and sees his white hospital gown and an IV line injected into his wrist. "What happened? How long have I been here?" Akari's expression becomes soberer and she holds her hands behind her. "You collapsed at the mall after the battle. They brought you here in an ambulance and you haven't moved since. It's been three days since then and you haven't moved a muscle."

Haruki yawns and rubs his eyes to wake up. "Where is Koharu? Is she alright?" Akari grabs her chair and sets it down next to Haruki's bed before sitting down. "She's fine, just a little shaken up. She left a few minutes earlier to get some sleep. She didn't leave your side the entire time you were here." Haruki nods his head when the door to his room open. The two teens turn their heads to see Kuroha and Kanzaki walk in, the former with a condescending look on her face. "Well, what do you know, he's finally awake." She says and walks up to poke Haruki in the head. "You have put me in a difficult situation Mr, Genos." Kanzaki joins in from next to her mom. "After what you did in the mall, most of Isamu's gang were sent to the hospital to recover like you. Some of the still conscious ones ratted you out, but luckily most of the bystander testified against them and the assault charge against you was dropped, but it was still very close." Kuroha leans back and holds her head in her hand. "Seriously how can someone like you be this lucky?" Haruk shrugs his shoulders and gestures to his room. "I honestly don't feel very lucky, considering where I am." "It's still better than prison," Kanzaki says from the side, making Haruki and Akari nods from the image.

"Right now, the best you can do is recover," Kuroha says to Haruki. "Not like you move anyway." Haruki raises his eyebrow and attempts to get up from the bed. "What are you talking about? I feel fine-" The moment he says this and his feet hit the ground, he collapses onto his knees and Akari and Kanzaki rushed down to help him. "W-What the!?" He gasped as they helped him back him to his feet. "See what I mean. You're body is still recovering from the fight. In case you didn't notice, your Noble Art did a number on your body as well." At the mention of his Noble art, Haruki looked up at Kuroha and turned to Akari with wide eyes. "So… You saw me..." "Yes, I did. Everyone who was in the mall did." She replied and sat Haruki back down in his bed.

The boy looked down at the floor distraught. "Was anyone killed? Did I..." He trailed off and Kanzaki shrugged her shoulders. "The worst thing you did was cut someone's leg off." She says offhandedly making him flinch before she continued. "Well, you did heal them afterward so it wasn't that bad." Haruki raised his head and look at the girl with wide eyes. "Wait healed? What are you talking about?" Akari sat down next to him and shook his shoulder to get him to look at her. "Listen after the fight when you passed out..."

* * *

The mall doors burst open and dozens of police officers rush inside with their guns drawn. "Police! Hands in the air!" The hostages raise their hands out of fear and Ayano and Koharu do the same. A few of them turn to Akari, who tightens her grip around Haruki and holds him behind her. "We said hands in the air!" One of them shouts at her but she screams back. "He's hurt! You have to take him to the hospital!"

A few of the officers look at the thugs who litter the ground. Most of the officers reel back from the sight of their injuries, but some who continued to look widen their eyes in shock. "Sir you have to see this!" The officer that the man called to walked over and his own eyes watched and the blood near the thug's amputated leg rose up from the ground and flowed into the veins of the leg and the stub connected to the body. Long tendrils of blood flowed back into the thug's body connected the two limbs and brought them closer together until they joined as one, all traces of the limb being cut off vanishing in an instant.

The officer ran his hand down his face to take in and process what he just witnessed and looked out of the corner of his eye to see the bodies of the other thugs miraculously healing themselves as the blood rose up from the ground and mended their bodies. Some of the officers near him watch the spectacle as well when one officer walks up next to the captain and taps his shoulder. "Sir, the hostages are saying that boy over there was the one who saved them. They're saying he used swords of blood to disable all of the aggressors." The captain looks back at Akari, who still held Haruki in her arms before turning back to the officer next to him. "Call an ambulance for that kid over there. If he dies the rest of these men will die with him." Akari sighed in relief as some of the officers start speaking into their radios for an ambulance. "Don't worry you're going to be alright." She whispers into his ear.

* * *

"So, they're all alright? None of them died?" Haruki asks Akari after she finished her story. The girl shakes her hand and he lied back down on the bed and exhaled a long breath. "Thank god. All of them are alright." He put his hand over his face to hide his expression and Kuroha and Kanzaki look at each other awkwardly. "We'll… leave you to yourselves." She says and gestures to her daughter to come with her and Kanzaki nods her head and leans closer to Akari and whispers in her ear. "Remember that you're in a hospital~ Don't do anything crazy~," She says in a sing-song voice and watches the face of the blue-haired turn bright red before walking out after her mother and closing the door behind her. Akari looked down at her partner, whos hands dropped from his face and had a kind smile with a tear streaking down his sleeping face. She rubbed her hand against his cheek and smiled with him. "Get well soon, Haruki. I really missed you these last three days."


End file.
